By: Jaiden Hatch
Access to clean water is a fundamental human right, yet it is treated as a commodity rather than a public good. Essentially, if you have the financial means to pay for clean water, then you are granted access to clean water. This notion sheds light on the unjust fact that your level of income can dictate your health status, as access to clean water (which individuals have to pay for) is correlated to better health outcomes.
However, 1 in 3 people worldwide
does not have access to safe drinking water…
(United Nations on SDG 6)
…and low income communities are more likely to have poorer quality drinking water with higher levels of toxins compared to their wealthier counterparts. Additionally, smaller water utilities — most often located in rural areas — tend to have higher levels of contaminants, and they often struggle with underfunding and ageing infrastructure. Lastly, these smaller systems are also more likely to serve low-income, disadvantaged communities.1,2
However, let’s take a glance at Alabama in terms of the level of income and rurality. 55 out of Alabama’s 67 counties are considered rural, and 43.6% of Alabama’s entire population lives in rural areas.3 Additionally, Alabama is the 6th poorest state in the nation with more than 714,000 people living below the poverty line.4 Therefore, if access to clean and safe water is largely determined by the level of income and/or rural status, what would you expect access to safe and clean water to look like for many communities in Alabama?
S W I M G U I D E - C A H A B A R I V E R K E E P E R
The Cahaba River is one of Birmingham, Alabama’s primary sources of drinking water, and it is also considered one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the United States. However, its precious biodiversity is currently under threat by Birmingham’s rapid urbanization, which has caused some devastating effects on the river’s health due to increased stormwater runoff, pollution, riverbank collapse, pathogens, and habitat loss. With these increased concerns, there exists a need for consistent water quality sampling, such as the Cahaba Riverkeeper’s Swim Guide Program.
Located in Birmingham, Alabama, Cahaba Riverkeeper is a nonprofit environmental organization that aims to defend the ecological integrity of the Cahaba River by ensuring clean and safe water for its dependents and inhabitants. Their Swim Guide Program — a water quality monitoring program — fulfils this mission while also ensuring publicly accessible, reliable, and understandable water quality data that displays both the chemical aspects and bacterial levels (specifically, E. coli) of the water.
Currently, the Cahaba Riverkeeper Swim Guide Program collects water samples at 29 locations spanning Jefferson, Bibb, and Shelby County. Out of these three counties, both Jefferson and Shelby County are considered urban whereas Bibb County is considered rural.5 Additionally, Bibb County has a higher poverty rate (17.8%) compared to both Jefferson (14.4%) and Shelby County (7.0%).4 Although sites at Jefferson and Shelby County more often had “red” or “yellow” E. coli alerts compared to sites in Bibb County, some residents of Bibb County also expressed unique concerns regarding the Cahaba River.
For example, once while I was conducting fieldwork in Bibb County, I fell on some rocks that were covered with this slippery, slimy film of an unknown origin. An older gentleman nearby (who was also a longtime resident of Bibb County) witnessed the minor fall. However, “you’re lucky,” he regaled me. He, too, had slipped once, but he cut his leg, which turned into a bacterial infection of some sort, claiming it stemmed from the river water. Nonetheless, he had mentioned that those rocks had not always been that slippery; they had only started getting slippery a couple of years ago, which was around the same time that he noticed that the wastewater treatment plant nearby was dumping greywater into the river. I’m not sure whether the slippery rocks are directly correlated to the greywater dumping, but this anecdote reveals how most often rural, low-income communities, such as those in Bibb County, are often targeted for the placement of and dumping from wastewater management facilities, and ironically, these communities often have the poorest wastewater infrastructure.
O T H E R I S S U E S: W A S T E W A T E R I N F R A S T R U C T U R E I N A L A B A M A
Many rural communities in Alabama lack proper wastewater infrastructure, and this rings especially true for communities in Alabama’s Black Belt. Alabama’s Black Belt was named for its dark, clay soil, which does not absorb water very well.6 Additionally, many residents of Alabama’s Black Belt rely on septic tanks to hold wastewater, but 90% of these septic systems are functioning poorly or failing.7 Additionally, these systems are notorious for overflowing and releasing raw sewage and wastewater into residents’ yards and homes.
Alabama’s Black Belt is also an area of economic disadvantage with the per capita income being $24,387 in 2019 and with 1 in 4 (23.7%) residents living below the poverty line.8 However, in Alabama, individuals can face heavy fines and arrest for unpaid fines for septic system violations.6 Bear in mind, this is an area that is already economically stressed, and many of these septic system “violations” are beyond an individual’s control, especially during extreme precipitation events that cause more wastewater overflow.
W H A T C A N Y O U DO?
Fortunately, there are many non-profit organizations which are focused on solving these water issues, and individuals can often get involved through volunteer opportunities. For example, many of the Riverkeepers in Alabama, such as Cahaba Riverkeeper and Coosa Riverkeeper, hold Swim Guide Programs every summer where you can get hands-on experience caring for the health and safety of the rivers. Cahaba River Society is another non-profit organization that is focused on environmental education and river stewardship. Lastly, the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ) evolved as an effort to address the root causes of poverty in Alabama, addressing the lack of infrastructure, particularly wastewater infrastructure, necessary for sustainable economic development.
Nonetheless, community involvement and support for community organizations are crucial to address the lack of access to safe and clean water for many communities in Alabama and throughout the Southeastern U.S., especially for rural communities.
Work Cited
University of Rhode Island. (n.d.) New Data Show the Severity of Water Contamination in Poor Neighborhoods. (https://web.uri.edu/steep/new-data-show-severity-of-water-contamination-in-poor-neighborhoods/#:~:text=They%20found%20that%20low%2Dincome,contaminants%20than%20their%20wealthier%20counterparts.).
Daniel Ross. (n.d.) New Data Show the Severity of Water Contamination in Poor Neighborhoods. Truthout. (https://truthout.org/articles/new-data-show-severity-of-water-contamination-in-poor-neighborhoods/).
Alabama Department of Public Health. (May 2021). At a Glance: Rural Health. (https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/ruralhealth/at-a-glance.html).
Alabama Possible. (n.d.). Barriers to Prosperity: 2022 Data Sheet. (https://alabamapossible.org/programs/datasheet/).
Alabama Rural Health Association. (n.d.). Analysis of Urban vs. Rural. (https://arhaonline.org/analysis-of-urban-vs-rural/#:~:text=Rural%20counties,-Autauga%2C%20Baldwin%2C%20Barbour&text=Clair%2C%20Sumter%2C%20Talladega%2C%20Tallapoosa,Washington%2C%20Wilcox%2C%20and%20Winston.).
U.S. Water Alliance. (n.d.) Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan. (http://uswateralliance.org/sites/uswateralliance.org/files/publications/Closing%20the%20Water%20Access%20Gap%20in%20the%20United%20States_DIGITAL.pdf).
Columbia University. (n.d.). Transforming Wastewater Infrastructure in the United States. Columbia World Projects. (https://worldprojects.columbia.edu/transforming-wastewater-infrastructure-united-states).
Alabama Department of Public Health. (n.d.). Social Determinants of Health: Ranked AL’s Fifth Health Indicator. In 2020 Alabama State Health Assessment. (https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/healthrankings/assets/2020_sha_health_indicator_5.pdf).
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